Machine for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord or other material.



- T. SLOPBR.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING OR TREATING LENGTHS 0F CORD OR OTHER MATERIAL.

} APPLIQATION FILED JUNE 21, 1909. 986,600. r Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wiinaszses. M fizz/en far. 7

M KM

T. SLOPBR. 4 MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING 0R TREATING LENGTHS OP CORD OROTHER MATERIAL.

APPLICATION F ILED JUNE 21, 1909.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WLt/zasu-es'. I N i 74m Q W wiilzewsea .T. SLOPER. MACHINE FOB.MANUFACTURING 0R TREATING LBNGTHS 0F CORD OR OTHER MATERIAL. APPLIUATIONFIILED JUNE 21, 1909.

9 6,600, Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

4 BHEETSSHEET 3.

- we): for;

. T.SLOPER.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING 0R TREATING LENGTHS 0F CORD OR OTHER MATERIAL.Arruonmn FILED mm 21. 1909.

986,600. Patexitd M ar.14,1911

4 SHEETS-SHI1ET 4 UNITED sr-Arrns PATENT OFFICE.

TI IOMAS SLOPER, 0F DEVIZES, ENGLAND.

momma FOR imnuracrunmson TREATING tnue'rns or conn on ornsn MATERIAL.

SLorER, a residing at and has for its object to provide apparatuswhereby the tension on the length of material under treatment may alwaysbe kept constant. q

The invention is particularly applicable to cabling or twisting machinesand more especially to the manufacture by means of these machines,- ofrubbered cord such as is used in the manufacture of cord tires. Foreonveniencc the invention will be described as applied to a machine forthis purpose although the invention is cabling machines or to thetreatment of rubbered cord.

According to one novel feature of this invention each supply movablesupport, that preferably takes the form of a swinging arm and the bobbinco operates with a stationary bra'ke block. The movable support permitsthe bobbin to reede from the brake block should the tension becomeabnormal and thus the'braking effeet is decreased during the period ofabnormal tension.

Another feature of this invention consists in the employment withasupply bobbin of a guide pulley that receives the material from thebobbin and that is yieldinglycontrolled to permit movement in suchdirection as to shorten. the line of travel of the material, the pulleyalso being free 'to turn about a radial axis to conform with the varyingplane occupied by the material as it travels to and from the pulley.

A further feature of this invention consists in the, employment with abobbin of a friction-drive device so arranged that as the amount ofmaterial .on the bobbin varies (and manufacture or 'conseqm-ntly thetension on the cord or other material tends to vary owing-to thedifl'eronce-of leverage exerted by the bobbin when empty and when full)the pressure of one friction member aminstthe other iscorre England,have invented other Material, of which not restrlcted to bobbin iscarried by. a'

Specification of Letters mm. P t t M 1 1911 Application filed June 21,1909. Serial No. 503,400. 7

spondingly varied and the tension on the material thereby maintainedconstant;

Various details of construction are hereinafter fully described andtheir novel features pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a cabling machineembodying the novel features of this invention; Figure l is adiagrammatic view showing the general arrangement of the parts ot-themachine; Fig. .Zsho'ws in elevation the upper portion of themachine on alarger scale than Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan-of the left-hand portion ofFig. 2 with the guide pulleys removed for the sake of clearncss; Fig. 4is a side elevation in part section of a detail shown in Fig. 3 and Fig.5 is an'elevation in part section of the lower half of the machine shownin Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings. The bobbinsA at the top of the machine supply separate cords or strands B that areto be twisted together to form a single cord. The cords B pass overguide pulleys Cand are drawn through a die D. The united cordsB aredrawn through by a positively driven wheel l) around which the cord isonce lapped to give it a grip. This wheel E is carried in aframe F thatrotates bodily on a fixed stud F at its upper end and in a, bearing F atits lower end. Mounted with in this frame and rotating in the samedirection but at a diti'erent speed is a receiving bobbin G on to whichthe 'cord is wound. The apparatus receives its motion from a shai'tHthat carries two bevel wheels H H which gear with wheels G and Fconnected with'the bobbin G and frame F. respectively. The upper now bedescribed in more once to Figs. 2 and 3.---

The supply bobbins above the other in. two sets. The number of bobbinsemployed will vary according to the number of .th'reads or stranc'lsitis dedetail with "refersired to 'mtdogether to form the one eord orcable and the machine shown is arra'i'i'ged to cable six strandssimultaneously,ithhugh the. parts necessary for this purpose'arc liotall illustrated in detail, as they are only duplicates one of the other.ach' bobbin is'carried on a swinging arm or fratr' ej-A pivoted at A touprightsTA portion of the machine will A are-disposed one @Fig. 1 but ona larger scale than that figure.

' wheel being positively driven continuously passes through the end of abracket C ona F lever is a wire or other operating member secured to aportion of the fixed frame X of friction-drive.- member G whereon \theone on each side of the machine. Each bobbin has at one end a brake-diskA and this rests upon a stationary brake-block A. The strands B from thebobbins A are passed over the guide pulleys C, one guide pulley beingallotted to each strand. Each guide pulley is carried by a stem or rod Cthat vertical pillar C Surrounding each rod is a spiral spring C thatlies between a collar C" fast on the end of the rod and a loose collar Cthreaded on the rod and that rests i'ni a recess in the end of the/arm CThe underside of this collar C is spherical in form and the recess inthe arm is correspondingly shaped. The strands B after passing over theguide pulleys G are carried down through the die D. This die is carriedin a horizontally disposed arm D that has one'end hinged at D to theframe of the machine. The opposite end of the arm has connected to it aspring D that tends to lift the arm and bears upon one end of a lever DiSecured to the other end of this,

D* that is connected directly or indirectly with any convenient form ofclutch or striking gear whereby the machine may be thrown out of actionshould the arm be de pressed.

The stud F F 1g. 5) which carries the upper portion 0 the revolvingframe F is the machine and has on it a worm F. This worm is inengagement with aworm wheel E that drives the wheel E through the mediumof wheels E E These wheels are supported in bearings carried by theframe F, and travel around with the frame, the wheel E being thusrotated by its engagement with the fixed worm F The rotation of theframe twists the strands 13 together so that they form a single cord orcable B which, as already stated, is lapped once around the wheel E andthe draws the cord through the die D and passes it on toward the bobbinG. Before reaching the bobbin, the cord is passed over guide pulleys J J1 carried by the frame F and a ulley J that is carried by a traversememr K. This member is carried on a rotatable shaft K supported in theframe F and havin a right and left hand screwthread whereby the usualtraverse motion may be obtained. The shaft K is rotated by means I ofwheels K K K that mesh with a wheel K which is free on a central shaftG2 that carriesthe bevel wheel G. This shaft G. has secured to it onemember of a friction-- drive G: and the pinion or wheel K carries acircular casing L that contains the frietio'ndrive member G and anopposed 'tioned that the frame bobbin G is supported. The bobbin hasconnection by means of a screw G with the member G so that it rotatestherewith and the casing L is also connected by a screw L' with thedriving member G and by a grub-screw L with the wheel ,K. The bobbin G,the driving member G, casing L and wheel K therefore revolve togetherand may -'be considered asone piece. The mem- 'ber G however, is fast tothe shaft Gr while the member'G is free thereon and the degree upon theweight of the bobbin G and the character of their opposed surfaces. 'Toobtain a smooth action the casing L is filled with lubricant.

.As already stated, the frame F is rotated by means of the bevel wheel Fwhich is fast to a hollow stud F 5 on the base-plate of the frame. Theframe rests upon ball bearings and runs in a brass F carried by astationary"*'portion of the frame X of the machine.

In this machine the gearing is so propor- F rotates faster than thebobbin G although both these elements rotate in the same direction. Thecord will thus be fed upon the bobbin at a s eed equal to the differenceof the two spe s of.rota- Lion.

lows :The strands B as they are drawn from their spools sometimes catchowing to the tacky nature of rubbered cords or to one layer perhapsoverlapping another on .the

: spool, and the object of the swin ing frame A with which each spool orbobbin is provided, is to -decrease the, tension thatwould be put uponany one-thread] at such a time by allowing the spool to be lifted fromthe brakebloclr A. It will be seen that if the brake were maintained onthe block, the thread would have to overcome this friction as well asthat offered by the clinging of the thread to the bobbin, but thes'wingin frame permits the whole bobbin to be hfte or its weight to bepartiallytaken from the brakehlock A when any such sticking occurs, andthus'undue tension is prevented from being put on the thread. i o

It has been found in practice that where it is desired to arrange thebobbins A close to the die D or other device througlrwhich the threadsare to be fed, it isdiflicult to guide the treads in such manner as topermit'their feedin readily from either end of the bobbins. here theb'dbbins are situated at some distance from the die, the thread adjustsitself, but to allow them to be brought close to the die and still toprovide pro er guidingmeans, the guide pulleys wit their connected partshave been intro- .of-grip between these two members-depends Theoperationof this machine is as-foli duced. Should the tension be increased on anyone thread or strand, its 'guide pulley can move downward or in suchdirection as to shorten the path of travel of the thread against theaction of the controlling spring- C; also-as the thread travels from oneend i the imbbl" ways more in right relation to the bobbin.

of the bobbin to the other, the guidepulley can swivel in the carryingarm C so that the pulley always lies approximately in the plane occupiedb 1 the thread as it arrives at and leaves the guide pulley. Thespherically faced collar C moreover, allows the guide pulley, with itsstem C to rock freely in any direction and thus the pulley alwaysadjusts itself to the thread and tends to gen? erally equalize the'tension on the latter.

Should aknot or an unduly large portion occur on any one or more of'thethreads or strands, the cord will jam in the die D and being stillpulled down will cause the arm D that carries the die to be depressedagainst the action of its spring D; This through the medium of the leverD lifts the wire or other operating member D so that the clutch orstriking gear controlled there by is operated to stop the machine.

As already mentioned above the degree of grip afforded by thefriction-drive 'G (i '(Fig. 5) depends largely upon the weight ofcording to the amount of material upon it. It will be seen that ifanordina-ry friction-drive were introduced. and placed as usual outsidethe rotating frame the tension'on 'the cord B would be least when thebobbin was full as the pull of the cord is then exerted on the bobbin ata point some distance from the center whereas when empty the pullis'exerted at a point much,

' nearer the center and thus the friction clutch would only slip with anempty bobbin when the tension on the cord was considerable whereas whenfull itwould slip with the cord under much less tension. 1 By arrangingthe friction drive, how ver, beneath the bobbin in the manner escribedthe degree of grip between the operative parts is increased when thebobbin is'full the bobbin thenbeing heavier) so that the effectof theincreased leverage is counteracted; similarly when'empty the gripbetween the operative parts of the friction clutch is decreased (thebobbin being lighter) and thus the efiectof the decreased leveragethrough which the pull of the cord is now operating is counteracted.

In actual practice the friction clutch is preferably always slipping butit slips less readily as the bobbin fills owing-to the increased weightofthe bobbin. If, therefore, the parts are so arranged that the slack ofthe cord will be just taken up when the bobbin is empty it much moreuniform tension"; can be maintained throughout the whole of theoperation than is otherwise possible.

It should be noted that as the screwthreaded spindle K carrying thetraverse member K is geared direct to the pinion K which isfast withtheclutch part G and the bobbin and this varies -ac-' the frame,

the traverse member will al to secure by Letters Patent is .1. In amachine for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord or other materialthe combination of a receiving bobbin, a friction drive device forrotating the bobbin about its axis and that receives the thrust of theweight of the bobbin, the thrust 0peratiug to press one of the frictiondriving faces against the other, a supply bobbin whence the material 'isfed to the receiving bobbin, yielding means for controllin the degree oftension put upon the material as it passes from the supply bobbin to thereceiving bobbin, and a device for twisting the material after it hasleft the supply bobbin, and prior to its'being Wound on the receivingbobbin, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord or othermaterial, the combination of a supply bobbin, a. vertical driving shaft,a friction driving member secured thereto having its engaging faceapproximately horizontally disposed, anopposed friction member thatrests onthe engaging face of the first and has driving connection with abarrel or windin stem that is carried by and extends vertically from.it, a frame that is rotatable about the barrel or winding stem, arotatable traverse-shaft carried by the frame in such position as to be:carried around the barrel or windingstem by rotation of the frame, aguide on the traverse-shaft over which the materialis fed as it passesthrough the supply bobbin to the barrel or winding stem such guidereciprocating on the traverse-shaft as this rotates aboutits own axis,and gearing that opcratively connects the traverse-shaft with thefriction member that carries the barrel or winding stem so that thenumber of revolutions of the traverse-shaft about its own axis comparedwith the number of revolutions of the shaft about the barrel or windingstem relatively to the number of revolutions of the barrel or windingstem about its own axis are always in the same ratio, substantially asset forth.

3. In a machine for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord or othermaterial, the combination of, a supply bobbin, a vertical drivingshafh'a friction driving member secured thereto and having anapproximately horizontallydisposed engaging-face, an opposed frictionmember that rests on the first, a vertically disposed receiving bobbinthat rests upon the opposed friction member and has driving engagement.therewith, a frame that is rotatable about the receiving bobbin, arotatable traverse-shaft carried by the frame in such position as to becarried around the receiving bobbin by rotation of a guide on thetraverseshaft over ber of revolutions of the shaft about the receivingbobbin relativelyto the number of revolutions of the receiving bobbinabout its own axis are always in the same ratio, substantially as setforth.

4:. In a machine for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord or othermaterial the combination of, a supply bobbin, a vertical driving shaft,a friction driving mem- .ber secured thereto and having an approximatelyhorizontally disposed engaging face, an opposed friction member thatrests on the first and has driving connection with a barrel or windingstem that is carried by and extends vertically from it, a dished casingsituated below the friction driving members and that is carried free on.the vertical driv ing,shaft,-the casin having upwardly extending wallswhici inclose the driving members and have driving'connection with theupper friction member that carries the barrel or windingistem, a framethat is rotatable about the arrel or winding stem, .a rotatabletraverse-shaft carried by the frame in such position as to be carriedaround the barrel .or winding stem by rotation of the frame, aguide onthe traverse-shaft over which the material is fed as it passes from thesupply bobbin to the barrel or winding stem, such guide reciprocating onthe traverse-shaft as this rotates about its own axis,

and gearing that operatively connects the traverse-shaft with theaforementioned casing,.substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 1

"5. In a machine "for nianufacturing or treating lengths of cord orother material, the combination of a receiving bobbin, means forrotating the receiving bobbin about its axis, a supply bobbin whence thematerial is fed to the receiving bobbin, a brake block cooperatinrotates with the supplyliobbin as the material is drawn from it, apivoted arm where.- on the supply bobbin is carried, and a yieldingcontrolfor maintaining this arm in such osition that the brake portionof the bobbin is normally maintained in contact with the brake block,the pivotingof the arm-and .collar to keep the latter in the rec with apart that situation of the brake block being such, however, that thepull of the material tends to swing the arm in such direction as tocarry the brake portion ofthe bobbin away from the brake block, wherebythe tension on the material as it is drawn from the supply bobbin ismaintained approximately constant, substantially as set forth.

6. In a machine for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord orothermaterial, the combination of a receiving bobbin, means for rotating,the receiving bobbin about its axis, a supply bobbin whence thematerial is fed to the receiving, bobbin, a guide pulley over which thematerial ispassed on its way from the supply bobbin to the receivingbobbin, the pulley being situated to one side of both these bobbins, so

that the material is ap roximately doubled back upon itself, yieldingcontrol for the pulley to permit movement in such direction as toshorten the line of travel of the material, and a universal joint forsupporting the pulley whereby it is free to turn about to conform withthe varyin planes occupied by the material as it travels to and from thepulley, substantially as set forth;

n a machine'for manufacturing or treating lengths of cord or othermaterial, the combination of, a receiving bobbin,

means for rotating the receiving. bobbin about its axis, a supply bobbinw nce the material is fed to the receiving bobbin, 8. guide pulley overwhich the material is passed on its way from the su ply bobbin to thereceiving bobbin the pul ey' being situated to one side of boththesebobbins so that the material is approximately doubled back upon itself,asupport for the pulley having a spherical recess on that side remotefrom the pulley, a stem for the pulley which extends through thissupport the orifice therefor in the support being sufficiently large toallowfree p ay of the stem and being situ-. ated'concentrically with theaforementioned .recess, a spherically-faced collar that is threadedonthe stem and whose face engages the recess in the sup ort, and a 5ring that cooperates between t e stem a thfis su stantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of 'two' subscribing witnesses.

. THOMAS SLOPER.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMESON, F. H. RAND.

Ooflos of this patent may be obtained torjve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of ratentl,

- Washington, D. G.

